Listening comprehension : Digital technology and its effect on the L2 learner’s listening comprehension.

Sammanfattning: The rapid development of new technologies and how these are affecting school age children is in this day and age an area of growing importance. In the context of second language (L2) acquisition, it has been noted that spare time activities of a digital nature impact those pupils who spend more time on activities such as online gaming in the target language than average (Sundqvist 2019, 95-103). The aim of the current study was to investigate the possible effect three different digital spare time activities (computer and video games, movies and music) have on listening comprehension. This when English is the dominant language in the activities, and the focus is on 6th grade children. The method used was a comparison made between a language diary homework, consisting of the participants’ estimated number of hours spent on digital spare time activities, and the results of a listening exercise. The results show that there is a positive correlation between the results of the listening comprehension test and the number of hours spent on digital spare time activities. Also, repeated exposure to the target language in a digital spare time context does, therefore, affect second language acquisition to a limited extent. The conclusion was that in order to come to a more conclusive answer regarding the correlation between digital spare time activities and English listening comprehension, more research is needed.